Leongatha staves off Warragul challenge

WITH Leongatha doing most of the early attacking and quickly booting the game’s first three goals, all promised to go smoothly for the Parrots, but Warragul was a stern opponent thereafter, briefly hitting the lead late in the game before being beaten by a goal.

An inspiring chase and tackle from Leongatha’s Ned Hanily, in his first Senior game of the year, lifted the Parrots, enabling them to get into their attacking arc after Warragul had taken charge of much of the final term and hit the front through a Jed Lamb set shot goal.

While Patrick Ireland couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity resulting from Hanily’s tackle, the forward’s set shot behind levelled the scores and Ireland made the most of his next chance by marking and booting a long-range major that proved to be the game’s final score.

That winning goal was set up by a pinpoint pass from Brok Davidson, who himself benefited from the precise delivery of Aaron Heppell.

Heppell was named the Parrots’ best ahead of Ireland, Heppell’s usual blend of physicality and skill creating opportunities for teammates, and Ireland complementing his couple of goals with hard work in the forward line and further up field.

While Jay Walker didn’t feature on the winner’s best players list, his tenacity and skill in the last quarter and ability to stick to Warragul’s best contributor Tom Hobbs proved instrumental in the Parrots’ narrow triumph.

Hobbs seemed to be everywhere for Warragul, regularly at the coalface when the ball was there to be won, and was the man to spark the Gulls into life when he kicked truly to put them on the scoreboard late in the first term after the Parrots had taken a 21-0 lead.

Big man Sam Whibley was named next best behind Hobbs for the beaten team for his solid day in the ruck, albeit one of his opponents in that role, Ben Willis, again featured among the best for the Parrots, Willis particularly impressing with his work around the ground including an important mark deep in defence.

In a low scoring match, Justin Pellicano was the only Parrot besides Ireland to manage multiple goals, also booting two.

Pellicano’s major on the cusp of halftime was critical after Leongatha had followed up its three consecutive goals early in the game with eight behinds in a row.

Coach Lamb and Jordan Stewart each finished the day with a couple of goals for Warragul.

Leongatha remains a win and percentage ahead of second-placed Moe, with three games to come, the Parrots next facing struggling Drouin on neutral territory at Morwell Recreation Reserve.

Parrot Kim Drew will be assessed during the week after suffering a neck issue in a tackle that saw him sit out the remainder of the game experiencing soreness.

Having won six games in a row before running into the Parrots, Warragul is still well placed for finals action, being fourth on the ladder, and starts as favourite against Maffra.